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*** six days four hours on the actual train, moscow to vladivostok (this is not allowing for touring time) | *** six days four hours on the actual train, moscow to vladivostok (this is not allowing for touring time) | ||
**** I (Smith) have also discovered a train called the Sibirjak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibirjak) that goes from Berlin to many interesting places: Novosibirsk, Kazan, Astana and the Russian-Abkhaz border to name a few options | **** I (Smith) have also discovered a train called the Sibirjak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibirjak) that goes from Berlin to many interesting places: Novosibirsk, Kazan, Astana and the Russian-Abkhaz border to name a few options | ||
***** Alas, it runs weekly, so pick only one interesting place. (My vote would be Astana) | |||
* Soviet Central Asia, China and Mongolia are also interesting places if we wish to go somewhere exotic | * Soviet Central Asia, China and Mongolia are also interesting places if we wish to go somewhere exotic | ||
** Combining this and the above, I (Smith) note that one can go from Moscow to Beijing by starting out on the Trans-Siberian and changing at Tarskaya, and that this is in fact substantially shorter than going all the way to Vladivostok (a city that appears to have almost exactly the same level of merit as a destination in its own right as the Snowdon Summit Restaurant) | ** Combining this and the above, I (Smith) note that one can go from Moscow to Beijing by starting out on the Trans-Siberian and changing at Tarskaya, and that this is in fact substantially shorter than going all the way to Vladivostok (a city that appears to have almost exactly the same level of merit as a destination in its own right as the Snowdon Summit Restaurant) | ||
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** possible but less likely to be nice about where we can go than kompas; also what is actually in anatolia/bithynia et pontus that makes it worth going east? | ** possible but less likely to be nice about where we can go than kompas; also what is actually in anatolia/bithynia et pontus that makes it worth going east? | ||
*** Probably precious little, but then what was there on the Adriatic coast? Not much. Personally I (Smith) feel the point of going East would be to get to somewhere excitingly exotic like Georgia or Armenia or Iraqi Kurdist-NO BAD SMITH | *** Probably precious little, but then what was there on the Adriatic coast? Not much. Personally I (Smith) feel the point of going East would be to get to somewhere excitingly exotic like Georgia or Armenia or Iraqi Kurdist-NO BAD SMITH | ||
* All wildly optimistic, assuming another 16 day plan. | |||
* Israel, Palestine and perhaps some neighbouring countries would be interesting (and likely cheaper than venturing further afield), but I (Smith - who else, ololol) expect the Kosovo Passport Issue returns with a vengeance if we do this | * Israel, Palestine and perhaps some neighbouring countries would be interesting (and likely cheaper than venturing further afield), but I (Smith - who else, ololol) expect the Kosovo Passport Issue returns with a vengeance if we do this | ||
** and i expect that the "swathes of desert punctuated by terrorists" issue rears its ugly head | ** and i expect that the "swathes of desert punctuated by terrorists" issue rears its ugly head | ||
* | * Mesoamerica (i am saying this due to, as is well known, being a fanboy of mayincatec remains, languages, etc.) | ||
** It is expensive and time-consuming to get there | ** It is expensive and time-consuming to get there | ||
*** could be worse, could be china (i recall it not being *too* expensive?) | *** could be worse, could be china (i recall it not being *too* expensive?) | ||
**** China is attainable by train, which while of course slower than an aircraft is more interesting and probably less draining than a long-haul flight | **** China is attainable by train, which while of course slower than an aircraft is more interesting and probably less draining than a long-haul flight | ||
** I don't think it would be substantially more expensive to get to than other places listed, and (done right) I suspect cost of living would be low. I would be for a not-very-ambitious tour of one (or two) countries there. | |||
* South Sudan | |||
** Probably a great place for budget safaris, but basically no way to plan ahead. Cities surprisingly expensive because everything is catering to oil companies. | |||
* A different African country | |||
** nominate Madagascar | |||
* Somewhere much nearer home, with a view to doing it on a camping basis (eg perhaps the Shetlands in summer) | * Somewhere much nearer home, with a view to doing it on a camping basis (eg perhaps the Shetlands in summer) | ||
* This will probably be of no interest to anyone else but me (Smith), but a radical alternative would be to find a language immersion course and go on it as a group - either in the UK or overseas | * This will probably be of no interest to anyone else but me (Smith), but a radical alternative would be to find a language immersion course and go on it as a group - either in the UK or overseas | ||